Acylalkylisethionate esters are anionic surfactants that can be used in a variety of personal care cleansers such as soaps, cosmetic compositions, and cleaning formulations. One acylalkylisethionate ester, sodium cocoyl isethionate (“SCI”), is an ester currently used extensively in soap-combi bars (i.e. syndet bars) due to its low solubility in water and mildness (i.e. non-irritating) to the skin as compared to harsher fatty acid soap bars. However, because of its low water solubility, SCI is not suitable for use in liquid cleansers. One method for improving SCI's limited water solubility is to combine SCI with other surfactants such as taurate, amphoacetates and betaines. However, this combination of surfactants still produces a hazy solution that tends to separate during storage. Therefore, it would be desirable to produce acylalkylisethionate esters that are highly water soluble, hydrolytically-stable and non-irritating for use in aqueous as well as non-aqueous consumer products such as personal care cleansers.